KHS spikers place fourth at GraceKodiak’s volleyball team placed fourth at the Lady Grizzly Tournament Saturday at Grace Christian High School. Kodiak emerged from Friday’s pool play 10-0 and grabbed the No. 1 seed for Saturday’s tournament. The Bears beat Eielson, 2-0, in their first match, but then fell to Hutchison, 2-1. After beating Homer, 2-0, Kodiak was bounced from the tournament with a 2-0 loss to Monroe. Monroe beat Valdez to win the 12...

Fossil Beach now openFossil Beach is now open to the public, a month and a half after a rocket exploded shortly after liftoff from the Kodiak Launch Complex. The area around the complex and the stretch of road beyond the mouth of the Pasagshak River were closed after the explosion, including access to Fossil Beach, a popular recreation spot. The road and Fossil Beach are fully open, according to a report from Alaska Aerospace Corporat...

Thomet competes in OregonKodiak’s Levi Thomet won his third consecutive state cross country title last week in Anchorage. This week he is in the Lower 48. Thomet is running in the 5,000 meters varsity boys elite race at Saturday’s George Fox Cross Country Classic in Gervais, Oregon. The race begins at 3 p.m. Alaska Standard Time. Thomet finished second in last year’s race with a personal-best time of 14 minutes, 43.9 seconds. Thomet, rank...

Spikers head to AnchorageKodiak High’s volleyball squad is playing in the Grace Lady Grizzly Invitational that starts today in Anchorage. The Bears will play Anchorage Christian, Homer, Houston, Kotzebue and Monroe Catholic in pool play matches that begin at 2:30 p.m. today. The records in pool play will seed teams for Saturday’s double-elimination tournament. Eielson, Grace Christian, Hutchison, Lathrop, Seward and Valdez are in the othe...

Prep picks: Playoff editionIt’s playoff time for high school football teams in Alaska. The eight-week regular season was a blur for me, as I posted my worst season in the history of picking games. I went 7-1 last week — my lone miss was Colony topping North Pole, 20-19. I ended the regular season with a 51-15 record that improved my winning percentage to .833. Gizmo’s debut of picking NFL games was just as bad, going 1-2. But like a true co...

Kodiak swimming entertains DimondTwo of the best swimming programs in the state will collide today and Saturday at the Kodiak Community Pool. Kodiak entertains Dimond in a meet dubbed “The Brian Young Duel in the Pool.” Today’s meet starts at 5 p.m., while Saturday’s begins at 11 a.m. The Dimond boys have won the past five state team titles, and before that they were the runner-up twice. “We want to swim against the best and that is what is comin...

Sen. Begich represents Alaskan interestes To the Editor, The upcoming General Election offers Alaskans the opportunity to make some very important decisions for the future of Alaska. I am sure I am not the only voter who is weary of the many negative campaign ads funded by the mega rich (based on half truths) that we have been saturated with. We have one candidate who has worked very hard to gain seniority and represent Alaskan interests. Senator Mark Beg...

Senior Blake James chasing breaststroke recordThe last thing Blake James sees before he closes his eyes for the night are the numbers 5989. Those numbers represent the Kodiak High School boys’ 100-yard breaststroke record of 59.89 seconds set by Ben Millard in 2004, one of four records from that season still standing in the history books. James has a month left to reel in Millard, something he has been dreaming about since he entered high school four years ag...

Kodiak author wins book awardAs a library technician and a published author, Sara Loewen-Danelski knows books. She works in Kodiak College’s library, and published “Gaining Daylight: Life on Two Islands” a year and a half ago. Now, that book has won the Willa Award for creative non-fiction. “It was great news,” Loewen-Danelski said. “I knew some of the entrants and I really admired their books so that felt doubly exciting.” The Willa Awards a...